Some Things Get Better

     Yesterday, I wrote about how the grave stone of Elisha had deteriorated in the last decade.  But not everything has gotten worse.  

     My grandmother visited St Gregory Cemetery in Samuels, Kentucky around 1950.  Two pictures survive of her visit. The first shows a row of grave stones of her mother and her maternal grandparents.  In 2005 we visited the same cemetery and happened to take a pictures from a similar position.  In the fifties, the cemetery was overgrown with brush and appears to be in disrepair.  Not so now.  

     By examining the following photos, you can see that the community of St. Gregory Church is now maintaining the cemetery in good condition.  A big THANK YOU for all who help maintain the cemetery from this descendant of at least six direct ancestors who are buried here.

1950 photo of grave of Eliza Jane Gates Blandford in the foreground

Similar view from 2005

The first four graves (seen above) from left to right: Eliza Jane Gates Blandford;
 Eliza's brother, Truman James Gates;
Eliza's parents, Elizabeth Mattingly Gates and William R. Gates.

Here is a wider view of the cemetery in 2005 

Photo taken in 2008 (courtesy of Amanda-findagrave contributor #47289435)

A low-resolution picture of my grandmother, Mary Cathering Blandford Armstrong,
 standing next to the grave of her mother, Eliza Jane Gates Blandford. 

Disappearing Before Our Eyes

      In the autumn of 2005, we made a trip east.  There were two reasons for the trip.  The first reason was to visit an aunt and cousins in and near Columbus, Ohio.  The second reason was to visit the graves of ancestors in Ohio and Kentucky. 
     My third great-grandfather, Elisha Gates, is buried in St. Gregory Cemetery in Samuels, Kentucky.  Samuels is located in Nelson County, about eight miles northwest of Bardstown.  
     Yesterday, while on the findagrave website, I browsed through the names of those buried in the cemetery.  I came across a memorial for a person with the surname Gates but with unknown birth and death dates.  I took a closer look.  
     It is surprising how much the stone has changed in seven years.  Compare my picture,taken in 2005, with the picture taken in 2012. The person who took the latest picture had been uncertain about the name and dates.  The image will appear different based upon several factors.  Those factors include the time of year; the time of day; the weather; and the quality of the original camera.
     But the stone has changed.  How long will it last?  It will eventually disappear.  Will our digital images last as long?

     

The picture on the left was taken in 2005, while the one on the right was taken in 2012

Note: Names used for the cemetery and the nearby parish church:  St. Gregory; St. Gregorys; St. Gregory's; St. Gregory the Great; 

The Gates' Farm

     The Gates' farm was along the waters of Froman's Creek near Coxs Creek.  Elisha probably purchased this land with the proceeds from the sale of the Anchovie Hills Plantation in Prince George's County, Maryland.  The 1850 Census shows the farm valued at $10,000 which was considerably more than other farms in the area.  In 1855 Elisha and Christina gave 153 acres of land to their sons, John and William.  Elisha Gates died during the Civil War but Christina Gates lived until 1869.  William had married Elizabeth Mattingly in 1849.  John did not marry until much later in life.  
     My Aunt Jane, who met some of the Gates family, told about an episode involving Elizabeth Mattingly Gates.  During the Civil War, Union soldiers came through taking all the meat from the farm.  They eyed the nice wool blankets longingly saying, "Wish we were further south, then we'd take these".  Elizabeth Mattingly Gates sat in front of the dresser where their money was hidden but they didn't ask her to move. 

Gates' Family Home near Coxs Creek, Kentucky - May 1905
 from left: Russell Gates; Mattie Gates; Metta Gates Spaulding; Elizabeth Mattingly Gates (wife of W^m Gates)

By comparing this old map¹ with the Google map you can see that the Gates' Farm is close to where Samuels Road (509) turns south.   Zooming makes Froman's Creek visible.  St. Gregory Cemetery is located a little west and south along Mobley Mill Road. (Coxs Creek is also known as Cox Creek or Cox's Creek)

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1. An Atlas of Nelson & Spencer Counties, Kentucky. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: D. J. Lake & Co., 1882.

Elisha Gates and the Catholic Church in Nelson County

     Fairly soon after the marriage of Elisha Gates and Christina Summers the two of them traveled to Nelson County, Kentucky.  Elisha was able to establish himself in the community rather quickly.  It is probable that he already knew many people in the area.  He had already lived there when he served in the War of 1812 and many of the families could have been neighbors in Prince George's and Charles Counties in Maryland.
      In 1820 he is listed as an elder of the Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown¹.  The cathedral was being built when Elisha and Christina arrived and priests started holding mass at the cathedral at about that same time.
     About 1836 Elisha helped establish the first Catholic newspaper in central Kentucky¹ - The Catholic Advocate.  Eventually the Catholic newspaper in the area was called The Record.
     Since the Gates’ farm was located about 8 miles from Bardstown, Elisha and many of his neighbors hosted priests to hold mass in the area¹.   Mass was held as early as 1827 at the Gates' house.  Records indicate that in 1852 the bishop confirmed 30 people at the home of Elisha Gates².  Around 1850 some forty Catholic families lived in the area and so they constructed a small brick church, St. Gregory’s Church, in Samuels, Kentucky.   Elisha Gates is one of the parishoners who was given special credit for the erection of the church.
     At the time a cemetery was adjacent to the church.  The present church is a few miles from the cemetery.  Elisha and most of his family area buried in the cemetery.

St Gregory Cemetery

1.  "History of St. Gregory’s Parish." The Record, Nov 26, 1949.

2   Benedict Joseph Webb, The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky, (Louisville, Kentucky: C. A. Rogers, 1884), 63; 578.